Why Do Equitable Hiring Practices Matter?
Equitable hiring practices help create a more diverse workforce. A diverse workforce’s composition is reflective of the range of racial backgrounds, genders, ages, religions, abilities, economic backgrounds, sexual orientations and other differences we see in our communities.
A diverse workforce at VCC can lead to:
- More students & increased student confidence. When current and prospective students see relatable employees, they feel that their experiences and needs will be better understood.[1][2]
- A positive impact on VCC’s reputation. The public tend to have positive opinions about organizations that prioritize staff diversity.[3]
- More job applicants. Many people seeking new jobs, especially those who have experienced past workplace discrimination, look for organizations with diverse employee representation, which widens the talent pool for employers.[4]
- More innovation and creativity. Employees have an opportunity to learn from those who are different from them, and from those who may have valuable skills, expertise, and experience that has previously been excluded. Staff feel more welcome to bring up new ideas and perspectives.[5]
- More accessible and inclusive College practices right from the start. Having diverse employees leads to diverse teaching, learning, research, and community engagement methods.[6] This helps eliminate the need for accommodations or retrofitting. For example, hire a neurodiverse educator and soon course assessments may become suitable for a variety of diverse learners without the need for individual disability accommodations.
An equitable hiring process also helps create more fair and inclusive workplaces. There are many benefits of a fair and inclusive workplace:
- Absences are less common when workplaces have flexible policies and processes that account for different life circumstances.[7] [8]
- Staff are more productive and fulfilled when they feel safe, accepted, and able to “bring their whole selves to work.” [9] [10]
- Staff communicate and collaborate better when workplaces take steps to gather employee feedback to prevent discrimination. [11] [12]
- Staff are more likely to stay with an employer longer-term when workplaces are adaptable to diverse experiences.[13] [14]
Equitable hiring helps redress past inequities in an organization’s workforce. Like many organizations, VCC hiring practices, whether intentionally or unintentionally, may have included:
- implicit biases and assumptions within hiring committees,
- prioritizing ‘fit’ over diversity within departments,
- overvaluing or devaluing credentials based on where and how they were obtained, and
- narrow job descriptions rooted in traditional notions of excellence that reinforce privilege and discrimination.
These practices can result in a less diverse pool of candidates, making some areas of the college more homogeneous. As a result, qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds may have been overlooked as the “best candidate” or, in some cases, excluded from applying or being considered for an interview.
Equitable hiring is essential to fulfilling VCC’s commitments to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, as expressed in VCC’s:
- Government Mandate Letters
- Strategic Innovation Plan
- Academic Plan
- Accessibility Plan
- Mental Health & Wellbeing Framework, and
- Institutional Learning Outcomes.
- Llamas, J. D., Nguyen, K., & Tran, A. G. T. T. (2021). The case for greater faculty diversity: Examining the educational impacts of student-faculty racial/ethnic match. Race Ethnicity and Education, 24(3), 375–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1679759 ↵
- Fairlie, R. W., Hoffmann, F., & Oreopoulos, P. (2014). A community college instructor like me: Race and ethnicity interactions in the classroom. American Economic Review, 104(8), 2567–2591. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.8.2567 ↵
- Hunt, V., Dixon-Fyle, S., Prince, S., & Dolan, K. (2020). Diversity wins: How inclusion matters. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins ↵
- Avery, D. R., McKay, P. F., & Volpone, S. D. (2013). Diversity staffing: Inclusive personnel recruitment and selection practices. In Q. M. Roberson (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of diversity and work (pp. 282–299). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199736355.013.0016 ↵
- Hundschell, A., Razinskas, S., Backmann, J., & Hoegl, M. (2022). The effects of diversity on creativity: A literature review and synthesis. Applied Psychology, 71(4), 1598–1634. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12365 ↵
- Sabela, P. T., Masuku, M. M., & Mthembu, Z. (2023). Diversity and its implications for teaching and learning in higher educational institutions. In M. O. Maguvhe & M. M. Masuku (Eds.), Using African epistemologies in shaping inclusive education knowledge (pp. 549–566). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31115-4_22 ↵
- British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. (n.d.). Economic benefits of employment equity: Information sheet. Retrieved December 13, 2024, from https://bchumanrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/Infosheet_Economic-benefits-employment-equity.pdf ↵
- Canadian Heritage. (2020). Systemic barriers to the full socio-economic participation of persons with disabilities and the benefits realized when such persons are included in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-persons-disabilities.html ↵
- BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. ↵
- Mudrak, J., Zabrodska, K., Kveton, P., & Machovcova, K. (2018). Occupational well-being among university faculty: A job demands-resources model. Research in Higher Education, 59(3), 325–348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9467-x[ ↵
- BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. ↵
- Bond, M. A., & Haynes, M. C. (2014). Workplace diversity: A social-ecological framework and policy implications. Social Issues and Policy Review, 8(1), 167–201. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12005 ↵
- BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. ↵
- Canadian Heritage. ↵
Neurodiversity is the idea that people have different ways of thinking, learning, and processing information, and these differences are normal and valuable. It includes conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and more, while recognizing that everyone’s brain works differently.
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